Until now, RNA and proteins were thought to interact only briefly during cellular processes. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology in Marburg, Germany, have discovered that this is not the case. During their developmental cycle, bacterial viruses `glue` specific RNAs to host proteins. As the authors descibe in their publication in the journal „Nature“,`RNAylation` could open up new avenues for phage therapy or drug development.